Arro Money Account Advice

LuckyDuke · 15 November 2017 at 3:25PM

My housemate just applied to open a bank account online, info arrived this morning and it seems he went against my advice of going with a high street bank and gone with Arro Money. I have never heard of them before, Anyone know if they are a secure banking option with relevant assurances? Outside of their own web info they seem a little light on background, they claim to be part of the Marq Millions and partners with GPS. "The Arro Card is issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd ("WDCS") pursuant to licence by Mastercard® International Inc. WDCS is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct electronic money service activities". Advice please

Robisere · 15 November 2017 at 3:35PM

Has your housemate asked you to be Guarantor, or otherwise used your name?
If a rented property, whose name is on the rent agreement, or is it joint?
These are the factors I would want to know about if I were you.

LuckyDuke · 15 November 2017 at 3:47PM

No, I am not the Guarantor, the account is in his name and name on house is mine. Just from my online searches I can only see info on Arro Money posted by themselves or press releases and details at companies house. It would be handy to know how secure they are and if anyone has had any past experience with them and feel secure with their services

eDicky · 15 November 2017 at 4:10PM

Until now I had never heard of Arro Money. They are obviously not a bank and there's nothing particularly secure about their prepaid accounts with ridiculous fees. It's hard to imagine why anyone would choose them when there are basic bank accounts and prepaid accounts without fees available.

Zanderman · 15 November 2017 at 6:10PM

Agree it seems an odd choice - not a bank, fees for lots of everyday things like withdrawals and no security for money.

Plus, as you say OP, nothing about them online apart from their own info, which should ring very loud alarm bells.

No reason to say they're dodgy, but no reason to say otherwise either - there's zero info about them. And that's very worrying.

A proper basic bank account would make far more sense.

LuckyDuke · 15 November 2017 at 7:35PM

I think it was the quick set up time which was the attraction.

Anthorn · 23 February 2018 at 11:48AM

I've applied to open an Arro account and I'm going to replace two prepaid cards with the Arrocard, Pocket and Soldo. Two things attracted me: It's a Debit card and it's issued by Wirecard. While the account is set up it's taking some time to receive the card. So far it's been 8 days not including weekends.

Arro itself is what they call a "virtual bank account" which I personally call a "prepaid bank account". Currently under construction/development and it's what Arro itself calls the "Early Access Card" that is available at this time. Probably the development of Arro is likely to be similar to that of Monzo in that they issue a card so they can build funds and then build the rest of the account and other cards later.

heminui · 12 March 2018 at 2:04PM

I do a little consulting work and opened an arro account to receive payments from various clients. After three months, Arro tells me that my payments look suspicious and suspend my account.
They only have a 0844 number, and the person you get when you call is pretty much just a receptionist and has no access to any useful information. You can hear them typing the questions into search engine while you're paying 40p/min, then you get "I'm only able to give you advice" -please ask your question via our online form.:(

Ian011 · 13 March 2018 at 8:31AM

heminui wrote: »

They only have a 0844 number.

FCA regulations effective 26 October 2015 have banned banks, card companies and insurers from using premium rate numbers starting 084, 087 or 09.

See https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/GEN/7/2.html?timeline=true

CSta · 20 November 2018 at 2:41PM

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

I thought PayPal were a law unto themselves when it came to extremely poor customer service but these guys now take the award for that. Truly awful.

To explain... like others I experienced my account being suspended randomly (I didn't get told as their terms state they will do, instead I had to find out trying to buy food when my card was declined). My ability to log into my account was stopped - which means no seeing my balance or any transaction history.

A number of days later they inform me (after I chased them) they are closing the account instantly. Nope I wouldn't be given the balance left in my account, in stead this would be returned to the most recent senders 'in 6-10 weeks, possibly longer'. I've requested who and how much this is but they won't provide this info!!

This has left me scrounging around friends and family trying to find thousands of pounds to cover my rent that they have kept hold of.

As for trying to discuss any of this with their customer service.... nah! They refuse to discuss this over the phone, and IF your emails get replied to then all you can expect is copy and pasted answers which will not answer your questions.

Financial Ombudsman is currently fighting my corner and compensation will be sought. I suggest anyone else who has had the unfortunate displeasure of dealing with this business to do the same.

Arro Money Account Advice

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